The Ann Arbor District Library says COVID-19 will not impact its budget this year, but that it will most likely affect future budgets.
The library has the funding it will need this year because their budget is made up of property tax revenue, and most of that has already been collected. However, Library Director Josie Parker says property values are expected to decrease because of the pandemic and that could cause a 5%-7% decrease in funding for the following fiscal year. She explains what a similar decrease in funding meant for the library during the 2008 recession.
Josie Parker: We were not hiring for three years, we froze all salaries for three years, and we managed our programming with the staff we had.
Parker says the number of materials, like books, the library purchased during that time also decreased. No word yet if that will be the case this time around.
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— Jorge Avellan is a reporter for 89.1 WEMU News. Contact him at 734.487.3363 or email him javellan@emich.edu
